It Wasn't Fireworks
by Moonlit Dreaming
Summary: For Muffy, the annual Fireworks Festival brings heartache. But there's also unexpected realisation and hope, just maybe... Muffy x Jack, Muffy x Rock. HM:DS, Oneshot.


**Disclaimer -** Harvest Moon does not belong to me.

**Author's note - **Hey! Here, at long last, is the Rock x Muffy oneshot I promised. It's weird because I've loved this pairing for ages and only now have I got around to writing something on it. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

**EDIT – 08/03/10 – **Story title changed. This was once 'Smiling Through It.' I much prefer the new title! Also, made a very brief edit while in here fixing the document. Nothing major, though – just spelling errors and whatnot. :)

It Wasn't Fireworks

Fireworks. There was a deafening crash from overhead; the packed beach was bathed in an electric blue glow. Muffy stared upwards into the dazzlingly lit sky. Her emerald eyes were shining with the glittering sparks of the display, but also with something less common to a summertime Fireworks Show. Tears.

The blonde barmaid let them flow unchecked, knowing that everyone else was much too engrossed to notice. She wouldn't go as far as to say that they wouldn't care - despite her current melancholy mood. Optimism, even in such subtle doses, was clearly Muffy's strength.

A chorus of 'Ooh's echoed up and down the sands, as the sky flashed bright, neon green for only the briefest of seconds. Muffy smiled adoringly along with the others. To her right stood Takakura, his arms folded moodily, and a little way to her left was a beaming Ruby. Muffy felt detached from all of them. She was part of a laughing, jostling crowd, yet she'd never been more alone.

_Concentrate,_ she told herself sternly_, concentrate on the lovely, pretty - _Another blinding explosion of light - _fireworks. Yes, the fireworks. Not him._

But, try as she might, Muffy's eyes were simply drawn to a certain corner of the beach. Sat on a large, darkened rock by the shore were two cosy-looking figures. From where she stood, Muffy could easily hear the childlike giggles of the girl as Jack reached out and gently brushed her cheek. The young woman in question was Celia and she just so happened to be Muffy's best friend. It led to a horrible mental conflict. The pair of like-minded farmers obviously made a perfect couple. They'd probably get married, probably have kids. Which was _great_, of course: she'd get to be bridesmaid.

All of a sudden, Muffy jerked her head around to focus steadfastly on the shower of scarlet sparks above. They were terribly blurred, but she didn't dare look away. Stupidly, oh so stupidly, she'd had such high hopes for this evening. All her own creation, naturally. A few careless words and once again her heart was lying in the firing line.

_..."So d'you think you'll be going?" Muffy asked casually, as she poured Jack another drink._

_The farmer shrugged as he sipped it. "Don't know," he said eventually. "Maybe. It's a pretty romantic festival, right? Well, I don't want to end up standing there on my own and none of the local girls have shown an interest, so..."_

_Muffy nodded along in silence. Her head was warning her repeatedly, while her heart pounded so incessantly she felt dizzy. If he even _half_-asked..._

_"What about you, then?" Jack questioned suddenly._

_Muffy looked up from the glass she was wiping, only for her green eyes to lock onto his liquid brown ones. "A - about what?"_

_"The Fireworks Festival. You going?"_

_"Oh!" Muffy's mind went into fast-forward - but not quite quick enough. "Well, I haven't got a date yet, either," she blurted out, before being able to come up with something just a little more subtle._

_Jack raked a hand through his messy brown, looking highly amused. "Okay," he announced. "Maybe you and I should go. If we've no romantic dates by the 24th then perhaps, you know, we'll go together..."_

Only Celia became involved. As a result, Jack was now sat 'Oohing' and 'Aahing' with his brand new sweetheart, while Muffy stood alone. And idiotically, she had pinned every hope and dream she had on a few passing 'maybes' and 'perhaps.' Deep down, she couldn't blame him or Celia; they'd promised her nothing. It was really her own foolish fault.

As yet another sparkling firework burst overhead, Muffy turned abruptly. She pushed and stumbled her way through the crowd and up the hill towards the Blue Bar. Griffin had decided against attending the festival, so at least she wouldn't be alone. Wiping her reddened eyes, Muffy shuffled up to the front door and wearily pushed it open. Over the distant squeal of a rocket, she could just about hear Griffin strumming his guitar in the back room. She froze in the threshold and, for a moment, simply listened. The song he played was very beautiful, hauntingly so. The higher notes seemed to quiver and linger endlessly in the air. Muffy found that she couldn't stand it any longer. It was like one of those songs you _want_ to listen to because you love the lyrics or the tune, but just hearing it makes your chest ache with unbearable sadness.

Sighing, Muffy closed the door with as little noise as possible and turned around to face the dimly lit street. _So...where to go now? _She wandered aimlessly in the direction of the river, with no clear idea of her destination. It was late summer and, though the night was seasonably warm, Muffy couldn't help shivering in her silky, blue cardigan. The fireworks, accompanied by many excited whoops and cheers, still rang out clearly in the air, so she headed as far away as she could get. Just beyond Jack's farm, lay the shadowy woods in which the Goddess Pond was to be found. Absently, Muffy ended up wandering there.

She'd followed the path amongst the trees countless times since moving to the Valley, so the journey was now pretty much second nature. Muffy kept her eyes trained fixedly ahead as she walked. It felt stupid, but she wouldn't allow herself to spare Jack's farm on the left even the briefest glance. _Don't think about him..._ she reminded herself firmly, _just don't. _For Muffy it was a familiar thought and one she'd grown accustomed to over the years. Where guys were concerned it was always the same old story...

The Goddess Pond was as well lit in the gloomy evenings, as it was in the daytime. White, magical energy seemed to radiate from it, illuminating it clearly through the darkness. Muffy looked from the water's shimmering surface to the soft grass, and then let out a little gasp of surprise. She had company.

"Hey, Blondie," Rock grinned, using his favourite nickname for his favourite barmaid. Actually, it was the only nickname he had for her and she happened to be the only barmaid he knew. But still... the sentiment was sort of there.

Muffy waited for her heart rate to return to normal. "Do you enjoy lurking there, hoping to scare people to death?" she asked only semi-playfully, while Rock looked noticeably sheepish.

He shook his head so that his floppy blonde hair brushed across his forehead and covered his hazel eyes. "No," he said. "I don't wait for _everyone_; just you, Bl - Muffy." Apparently, her teary expression had finally been noticed by Rock, whose brow creased very slightly.

Muffy knew that her next burst of laughter was a rather hollow attempt. But it was expertly disguised and, truthfully, Rock seemed only vaguely aware of his companion's current mood.

"So, why d'you skip the festival?" he asked would-be-casually, moving over to where Muffy stood. The sounds of the display now seemed to be fading into the night; it had to be getting quite late. "I thought you said you were going with Jack?" he added, not realising the insensitivity of this comment.

At the pang that went through her, Muffy forced herself not to wince. "Why didn't _you_ go?" she countered quickly.

Now Rock might not have been the shiniest coin in the pile, but even he wasn't completely oblivious to the meaning of her reaction. "Jack's a jerk," he said fiercely, flinging a protective arm around her shoulder. He'd comforted her many times in the past and so sounded practically rehearsed.

"And that's why you didn't go?" Muffy replied, giggling properly this time. "In protest of Jack's presence?"

"Huh?" Then, Rock remembered her original question. "Oh! I haven't gone for the last few years. I've lived here my whole life and the fireworks are always exactly the same. But seriously, Muffy. Jack _is_ a jerk. Did he just not turn up? Or go with someone else?"

"But he's not a jerk, Rock," she sighed, wriggling free of his grasp and stepping up to the edge of the pond. "He didn't exactly promise me anything. We agreed to go together if neither of us found an actual date. And he did: Celia. I just got my hopes up when I shouldn't have. My own fault, right?"

Rock neither confirmed nor denied this. In the long pause that followed, Muffy slowly kicked off her scarlet high heeled shoes - her favourites, actually - and the let the blades of grass tickle her bare feet. "I wish I was a kid again..." she whispered. Whether Rock had heard or not, Muffy couldn't say. At least not immediately. She could feel him lingering behind her, half-submerged in the deep shadows cast by the trees. "Of course," she grinned, turning to face him. "That's not a problem for you. You've never grown up."

"Ha! What a cheek!" the blonde joker retorted, feigning a look of hurt. He then flashed Muffy a ridiculously toothy grin. "How do _you_ know I wasn't a studious, sensible child who is now making up for it as an adult?"

Muffy could hardly contain herself. She sniggered uncontrollably as Rock once again found himself faking annoyance. "Sorry, sorry..."

"Glad to hear it," he said jokingly, taking a strand of her fair curls and tugging it straight. As Muffy pulled away beaming, it didn't escape her notice that Jack had been all but banished from her mind. _Although,_ she thought, _thinking about _not _thinking about Jack was surely, well... thinking about him? _

In a fit of frustration and confusion, Muffy flopped down onto the cool ground. Rock did likewise, feeling equally, if not more, perplexed. He may have been one of the best friends - or at least guy friends - Muffy had, but the dating issue was always difficult to deal with. And, unfortunately, it was the problem that arose most frequently for Muffy. She could laugh about it in time, she could always see the bright side in the end... she was truly great like that, with all her unrelenting optimism. But as time went by, Rock could feel the rejection building up inside her, as her pursuit of happiness carried on fruitlessly. He didn't worry about much in life, but he did worry about her.

"Wanna play, like, tag or something?" Rock blurted out suddenly.

Muffy looked up. "What?" she exclaimed, staring at him with impossibly wide, green eyes.

There was a moment of silence in which Rock fidgeted awkwardly, his face now crimson with humiliation. "Well, you said you wished you could be a kid again," he explained with a quick shrug.

"Yes, to escape the pitfalls and disappointments of dating, though," she sighed, brushing a hand across the water's dark surface. "Not to fall and scrape my knees. Which is something that happened to me a lot as a child, by the way."

"Clumsy," Rock teased, before he could restrain himself. He wouldn't be deterred in his goal, however. "Aw c'mon, Muffy! I'll give you a _five_ second head start."

She pretended to look stunned. "_Wow!_ Gee, thank you for that, Mr Scrooge."

Only Rock wasn't listening. "Five..." he began in a demanding tone, while Muffy shook her head in exasperation.

Rock's eyes glittered at her reaction. "Four..." Either he didn't realise or he simply didn't care that Muffy had no intention of moving. She shifted a little closer to him, presently, which was the opposite of what he claimed to want, but not entirely horrific.

"Three..." There was no denying the fact that thoughts of Jack still plagued Muffy. It was foolish to pretend otherwise, though it definitely didn't hurt quite so much anymore. Her feelings were now more of a dull ache. One that faded more and more by the minute - by the _second_ in fact.

Rock raised an eyebrow at her lack of enthusiasm. "Tw... - oomph!" The number two was nearly lost in a kiss. It happened to be briefest, dullest, just-to-shut-you-up sort of peck, but it was still a kiss none the less. As he drew back, Rock gaped at Muffy. "What was that for?"

"I thought doing it on 'one' would seem a little contrived," she joked, before snorting with laughter at his shocked expression. "I'm kidding, Rock! I just did it to shut you up... I think." Her usually chirpy friend nodded, as the pair fell suddenly silent. It was, thankfully, a comfortable silence.

Though she hadn't admitted it, Muffy felt a tiny bit strange about what had just happened. Kissing Rock hadn't been at all how she envisioned kissing Jack. It wasn't a haze of explosions and sparks. It certainly wasn't _fireworks._ So what was it? The word 'nice' sprung to mind, overused though it was. But it _was_ slightly fitting. That brief kiss with Rock seemed to have awakened something in the back of Muffy's mind. Something she already knew, had known all along, yet was still some way from understanding.

That one quick moment turned out be their only kiss that night. It was far too soon after Jack and they both knew it. Yet Muffy was certain that it wouldn't be their last. She hoped Rock knew too and, if the quiet hand holding was anything to go by, he definitely did.

For once, Muffy was able to look to the future with some real hope inside her. It wouldn't be fireworks. It would be better.


End file.
